Filament mounting method and apparatus



Feb. 8, 1955 J. H. HOLLOPETRE ET AL FILAMENT MOUNTING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed March 20, 1952 Inventors:

John H. Hollopeone John W; Anthony Their Attorney United States Patent @fiice Patented Feb. 8, 1955 FILANIENT MOUNTING METHOD AND APPARATUS John H. Hollopetre, Mayfield Heights, and John W.

Anthony, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application March 20, 1952, Serial No. 277,696

3 Claims. (Cl. 14071.6)

Our invention relates to a method and apparatus for making filament mounts for incandescent lamps and other electrical devices, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for applying a lubricantto the support wires of a filament mount during the manufacture thereof.

One object of our invention is to reduce improper functioning and eliminate abnormal wear produced in the portion of the mount making apparatus which curls the ends of the support wires of the mount about the filament thereof. Our invention is especially concerned with the faulty operation of the curling apparatus which results in buckling of the support wires, in improperly shaped filament holding loops and in roughening of the surface of the curling apparatus as occurs when said support wires fail to slide smoothly over the surface of said curling apparatus or dig into said surface. To eliminate such faulty operation, we provide for the application of a lubricant to the support wires of each of the mounts manufactured by the mount making apparatus with the result that the support wires slide smoothly over the curling apparatus and that said support wires lose their tendency to dig into and otherwise injure said curling ap paratus.

Another object of our invention is to effect the application of a very light coating of a lubricant to the specific portions of the support wires of a mount which wipe and slide over the curling dies of mount making apparatus, as for instance the type disclosed in Flaws Patent 1,907,533 dated May 9, 1933. To this end, apparatus is provided for momentarily carrying bodies of wadding wet with a suitable light-bodied petroleum lubricant against one side of the end portions of the support wires of the mounts in the course of their passage to the curling apparatus. This operation effects the transfer of a very slight amount of the lubricant to the portion of the support wires which first strikes the dies of said curling apparatus and which slides around the curved surface thereof and avoids, as much as possible, the application of lubricant to portions of said support wires directly in contact with the filament of the mount. By restricting the application of the lubricant in the above manner, the support wires are caused to carry only the absolute minimum of said lubricant into the lamp or electrical device into which they are ultimately sealed and the dies of the curling apparatus are prevented from collecting a concentration of said lubricant and foreign matter which could interfere with its operation and which could be picked up by said support wires.

Still other objects and features of our invention will appear from the following detailed description of a species thereof and from the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view of lubricating apparatus comprising our invention in its operative relation to the mount carrier and the support wire curling apparatus of a mount making machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said lubricating apparatus at the moment of its engagement with the support wires of a mount; Fig. 3 is a plan view, on a larger scale, of the movable upper portion of the lubricating apparatus and a mount portion retained by a pair of jaws of the mount making machine; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the support wire holding and curling apparatus of the mount making machine mid-way in the operation of curling loops in the ends of the support wires of a mount.

The lubricating apparatus of our invention, as disclosed in the drawing, occupies a work station taken by the'partially completed mount just prior to its arrangement with the support wire forming portion of the mounting apparatus which curls said support wires about the filament, and is actuated by the operating mechanism of said mounting apparatus. The lubricating apparatus may, for instance, be located at work station A about a mount conveyor of the type disclosed in Flaws Patent 1,907,532, dated May 9, 1933, and herein in part represented by the support member 1 thereof, and is arranged, at the time the partially completed mount 2 is indexed to that station, so that the three corresponding support wires 3 of said mount pass under the arcuate applicator 4 of the apparatus. The mount 2, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is at that time retained in part by the jaws 5 and 6 which engage the glass arbor 7 at a point along the longitudinal axis at the lower extremity thereof, and is arranged so that the center one of the three support wires 3, 3 and 3 radiating from said arbor 7 is prependicular to the path 8 of'travel of the mount 2 and the other two support wires 3-3 are at fifty-five degree angles on either side thereof.

The cycle of operation of the lubricating apparatus is initiated by a downward movement of the applicator 4 to a position where the ends and the immediately adjacent portions of the three support wires 3 enter into respective cross slots 9 in the lower surface of said applicator 4 and contact the resilient wadding or padding 10 within the hollow interior thereof. This operation has the function of effecting the transfer of a small amount of a highly-refined thin-bodied petroleum distillate to each of the support wires 3 and results in a very light coating of the distillate appearing only on one side and the extreme end of the end portions of said wires 3 which have contacted the wadding.

The motion of the applicator 4 is vertical and is the result of movement of the slide 11, to which it is attached by means of the arm 12, along the upstanding column 13 on the table 14 of the mount making machine. An operating rod 15, located adjacent the column 13 and fastened to the slide 11, is the means of moving said slide 11 and receives motion from the operating means located below the table 14 of the mount making machine, in the manner of corresponding means (not shown) associated therewith, and actuated by the main drive shaft 16 of said machine. The downward movement of the slide 11 is effected by the rotation of the face cam 17 on the shaft 16 to a position where the roller 18 on the operating lever 19 passes into a portion of groove 20 in said face cam 17 nearer said shaft 16 and lowers the rod 21 which is connected to operating rod 15 by the arm 22. The operating lever 19 is pivoted upon a pin in a bracket 23 attached to the lower surface of the table 14 and engages the rod 21 through a pin 24 extending therefrom. Throughout this operation thearm 22, which is slidable upon the operating rod 15 is pressed against the end collar 25 on said operating rod 15 by the expansion force of a helical spring 26 located about the end of said operating rod 15 and bearing against a second collar 27 thereon.

After a brief moment in engagement with the support wires 3, the applicator 4 is raised to a position clear thereof and then almost immediately is raised still further until it engages the wadding 28 projecting from the tubes 29-29 of the lubricant supplying portion of the apparatus. This motion of the applicator 4 is also the result of motion of the operating rod 15 under the influence of the operating means below the table 14 and reaches its limit when the slide 11 bears against the guide block 36) on the column 13. Further motion of the operating means after the applicator 4 has reached the upper limit thereof effects only a compression of the spring 26 about the lower end of the operating rod 15. The applicator 4 is at that time positioned so that the ends of the strips of wadding 28-28 extending beyond the ends of the tubesv full length of the tubes 29-29 to the main supply reservoir 32 at one end thereof. All support for the'lubrication supply portion is provided through the mounting for the reservoir 32 in that both tubes 29.29 are attached to the metal cap 33 over the transparent cylindrical side wall portionof said reservoir 32, and a post 34 extending from the base of 'thesaid reservoir 32 is attached to the column 13 by the clamping arm 35. The exchange of mounts 2 before the lubricating apparatus occurs during the interval the applicator 4 is in engagement with the supply portion of the apparatus or in the immediately following interval during which it is positioned mid-way between said supply portion and'the level of thesupport wires 3 of said mounts 2.

The lubricating apparatus-described above has particular utility in its use in mount making apparatus of the type disclosed in Flaws Patent 1,907,533, hereinbefore referred to, in that it lubricates the particular portions of the support wires 3 which engage the curling dies '36 of said apparatus. These dies 36 have the function of curling the support wires 3 about a filament 45 presented at mounting relation thereto. As shown in the drawing, the filament 45 is temporarily supported by a transfer mechanism comprising pairs of jaws 46, 46' and 47, 47' which grip respective ends of the filament and hold it in a bowed position adjacent the ends of the support wires 3 with its ends in hooks at the ends of lead-in wires 48 extending downwardly from the stem 2. For further details of such mechanism reference may be had to the aforementioned Patents 1,907,532 or 1,907,533. In the instance illustrated by the drawing, the'curling operation takes place at the next work station B, along the path 8 of movement of the mount 2 and is the result of the upward movement of the three curling dies 36 following the bending andclamping of the three support wires 3 by movements of the slides 37, 38 and 39 (a fourth slide corresponding to slide 37 and located adjacent slide 39 is not shown). The slides 37, 38, and 39 move in, in converging paths toward the arbor 7 ofthe mount 2, and down to the position shown in Fig. 4, and in so doing cause the pins 40 projecting therefrom to bend the support Wires 3 to the corresponding oblique positions at which they appear in Fig. 4. Finally, when the motion of the slides 37, 38 and 39 is complete the adjacent pads 41 at the ends thereof clamp intermediate portions of said support wires 3 therebetween.

The curling dies 36, which are attached to a common mounting block 42, are moved up through the position in which they appear in Fig. 4 and in the course of this movement cause the ends of the support wires 3 to enter into the upper end of the groove 43 and then pass down through said grooves 43 to the semi-circular groove portions 44. The ends of the support wires 3 curl when they pass into the semi-circular groove portions 44 and are bent into loops about the filament (not shown). The upper surface of the ends and adjacent end portions which have previously been wet with lubricant are the specific portions of the support wires which are forced against the dies 36 and accordingly slide smoothly along said groove. This manner of applying the lubricant to the meeting surfaces of the support wires 3 and the dies 36 replaces that lubricant which is ordinarily present and which would be wiped free of the dies 36 in the regular use thereof and permits extended periods of operation without appreciable wear to said dies 36 andwithout instances where the ends of the support wires 3 dig into the surfaces thereof.

While we have described the preferred embodiment of our invention, We do not wish to be limited to the exact structure shown as it will be understood that modifications of the manner in which our invention is carried into effect may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In the manufacture of a mount for an electrical device comprising a stem having a support wire extending therefrom, the steps which comprise applying a lubricant to the free end portion of the support wire at one side only thereof, holding a filament with a portion thereof adjacent said free end of the wire and at the unlubricated side thereof opposite said one side, and curling said free end portion of the wire around the filament by engagement of a curling die with only the lubricated side of said free end so that the unlubricated side forms the inside of the loop.

2. Inamount making machine for. electric lamps and similar devices, the combination of conveyor means including holder means for holding and carrying to successivestations, a stemhaving atleast one support wire extending 'therefrom, a lubricating mechanism at one of said stations comprising a-pad member adapted to retain a quantity of lubricant, means for supporting said pad member and moving it into engagement with one side only of an end portion of the support Wire while said holder means is at said-one station to deposit lubricant only on said one side, a curling die located at a successive station, means at 'said successive-station for holding a filament with a portion thereof adjacent thesaidendportion of the support wire and at the'unlubricatedside-thereof opposite saidone side,-and-'means for supporting said curling die and moving it into engagement-with the said onesideof the end p'ortion of-said support wire to curl it'into a loop around the filament with the unlubricated side of thewire forming the inside of the-loop, and means for effecting movement of saidholder means, pad member and die -in-proper time relation.

3. In a mount making machine-for electric lamps/and similar devices, the combination of conveyor .meansincluding holder means for holding and carrying to successive stations a stern having a plurality. oftsupport wires radiating laterally outward therefrom in a horizontal plane, a lubricating means at one of said'stations comprising an applicator including-a hofizontallyarranged arcuate tube having transverse slots in the lower side thereof spaced-apart distancescorresponding to the spacing oftheendportions of said support wires and also having an opening in the upper side thereof, a wick within said tube -and-exposedat said slots and opening,asource of lubricant including a supply wick located above said tube in alignment with the said opening'therein, mechanism for supporting said tube in thespace above thesupport wiresof a stem at said onestation and below said supply wick and for vertically moving said tube to alternately carry it upward into engagementwith said supply wick and downwardly into-engagement.withsaid support wires to apply lubricant .tothe upper side only of end portions of said support wires, aplurality ofcurlingdies located at a successive station, bending means at said successive station, means for actuatingv said bending means to bend saidsupport wires obliquely downward in registry withsaid dies, means .at said successive station for holding a filament with portions thereofradjacent the said end portions ofthe support wires and .at the unlubricated sides .thereof opposite said upper sides, and :mechanism for supporting said curling dies .and moving them into engagementwith .the'said end portions of the support wires and along said upper sides thereofto .curl them into loops around the filament With-the-unlubricated sides of the wires forming the insides of the loops, and means for-effecting movement ofsaid holder means, applicator, bending means and dies in proper time. relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 768,876 Campbell Aug. 30, 1904 1,623,766 Way Apr. 5, 1927 1,907,532 Flaws May 9, 1933 1,907,533 Flaws. ..May 9, 1933 2,227,602 Platt Jan. 7, 1941 2,232,964 Parrish Feb. 25, 1941 2,531,534 Sheley Nov. 28, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 570,260 Great Britain vNov. 23, 1943 

